A private collector outbid another one to take this 1549 first edition of Georgius Agricola’s De animantibus subterraneis liber to $37,800. It was the first example of the rare volume to come to auction in nearly 50 years ($1,5/2,500).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Freeman’s
PHILADELPHIA — Exactly 155 lots of books and manuscripts were offered on September 27 by Freeman’s, which tallied $440,055 and saw a sell-through rate of nearly 85 percent. Interestingly, top lots represented widely varying categories, from natural history and travel and exploration to posters, Americana, Literature and African Americana. Many of the top lots were singular or nearly unique items, some having few if any comparable auction examples. Darren Winston, senior vice president and head of the department, is careful to note those details at the bottom of his extensive catalog entries along with other selling points of the lot. It is a habit that educates not just experienced collectors but also novice ones as well.
The top lot of the day at $37,800, for a first edition of Georgius Agricola (Geor Bauer)’s work on subterranean creatures titled De amantibus subterraneis liber. Published in Basel in 1649 by Hieronymus Froben, the non-illustrated volume discussed — according to the catalog — “subterranean animals, fauna, cave-dwelling birds, lizards, fish, insects and troglodytes, as well as more fanciful creatures like trolls and goblins.” It featured the green library ink stamp of prominent French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire at the bottom of the title page and was the first copy Freeman’s could find at auction in 45 years. It came from a Midwest trade seller
The same buyer of the Agricola also acquired Jean-Barthelmy-Maximilier Nicolson’s Essai sur L’histoire Naturelle de L’isle de Saint-Domingue for $6,300. It was another rarity, being the first copy to come to auction since 1984.
Bright colors helped drive interest in this color lithograph titled Ambassadeurs: Aristide Bruant by Henri Toulouse Lautrec to $30,240. It was the second highest result of the day, from a trade buyer ($20/30,000).
A trade buyer “with a good eye” took Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s poster titled Ambassadeurs Aristide Bruant to $30,240.
The same price of $30,240 was achieved by Francis Bailey’s 1781 compendium of early American documents that included The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America; The Declaration of Independence; The Articles of Confederation Between the Said States…. One of only 200 copies printed by order of Congress, the lot was additionally interesting because of its provenance to Joshua Mersereau (1728-1804), an American businessman, lawyer and patriot who operated, along with his two sons and family members, the Mersereau Spy Ring, which the catalog identified as one of the first intelligence gathering operations for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The volume was one of a few in the sale from a large collection of Americana from Gwynedd Valley, Penn., which Freeman’s will be selling in its upcoming November sale.
For links to important historical events, a lot that checks every single box would be an archive of material compiled by New Jersey detective Ellis H. Parker during his investigation into the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr, one of the most notorious crimes of the Twentieth Century. The collection of more than 1,100 documents was consigned by Parker’s grandson and was fresh to the market; additionally, two contemporary typescripts of the autobiographies of convicted and executed killer, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, The Story of My Life and that of his wife Anna, The Story of Anna Hauptmann. Winston could find only one other contemporary copy of either autobiography, both at the New Jersey State Police Museum in Trenton, N.J. An international private collector won the lot for $18,900.
Signed or inscribed books by Salinger are rare to market and when found, are usually later editions of his most famous work. Freeman’s could find no previous auctioned copy of any inscribed or signed copy of Nine Stories. It found a new home with a private collector for $12,600 ($6/9,000).
A copy of the anti-slavery tract, Observations on the Inslaving[sic], importing and purchasing of Negroes…by Anthony Benezet came up early in the auction and found a new home with a trade buyer, for $11,340. Printed by Christopher Sower in Germantown in 1759, the catalog noted it was only the second copy of the first edition that has come to auction since 1929.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Freeman’s next Books and Manuscripts sale is scheduled for November 16. For information, www.freemansauction.com or 215-563-9275.
